Bowne at Greater Risk?

We have not been blogging much the last month, because of vacations, work, and also uncertainty about what to do next. However, today, Monday, August 29, feels like the beginning of the fall season in New York, when the business of life picks up again.

Right on cue, this weekend I received a letter from the Seaport Museum that officially terminated my position at Bowne & Co., bringing to an end the limbo state of furlough that began on February 14.

This letter could mean several things. Perhaps the museum will re-open Bowne and simply doesn’t want me there. It could also be a sign that the museum has decided that Bowne will not reopen for a while, if at all; or the museum may have made a plan with an institution such as the Museum of the City of New York, a plan that does not include Bowne in its current form.

Over the last month we – the Friends of Bowne – have written a document that describes a future for Bowne and lists ways that Bowne could become a self-sufficient operation. We would like to make it available to anyone who would like to help us help Bowne more aggressively. Here are some things you can do:

• Read the plan and offer your suggestions to improve it.
• Use the plan to approach the Seaport Museum or other institutions who have power over the fate of Bowne. Do you know anyone at the Museum of the City of New York? City government?
• Put us in touch with still other organizations or individuals you know who may be interested in supporting Bowne and in a position to negotiate with the Seaport Museum / City at an institutional level.
• Simply let us know if you know anything about the future of the Seaport Museum.